<p>The drinking age in New Orleans is Laissez Faire. Two rules to live by in New Orleans are (1) don’t urinate in public and (2) don’t carry an open glass vessel containing alcohol. </p>
<p>That being said, my son parties hard on weekends and maintains straight A grades. He loves the climate. What he doesn’t care for is the high percentage of kids from the Northeast and in particular the New York area (where he is from).</p>
<p>One more thing: an officer with the Tulane police told me the biggest problem is freshman girls who drink too much.</p>
<p>Just wish to thank members for their thoughts; we are visiting McGill today learning all about McGill; it’s one step at a time and contributions here have made a difference…</p>
<p>It really is OK to take a year off, review her list, and apply to places that will work out better for her both academically and financially. Throw that offer into the mix as well. Perhaps she’d like a chance to hang out with the French friends/family for a couple of months and truly perfect her language skills. Perhaps she’d be happy with City Year or another semi-volunteer project. Heck, it’s election year, maybe some politician she’s interested in needs another pair of hands to get those envelopes stuffed.</p>
<p>This does not have to come down to McGill vs. Tulane unless she really wants it to.</p>
<p>While you’re there be sure you confirm what the tuition would be. According to their website, tuition varies on whether you are a Quebec resident, a Canadian citizen/permanent resident, or international. </p>
<p>If McGill is that inexpensive and cost is a factor, choose McGill. Its got a great reputation. No worries there.</p>
<p>If you are saying your dau got “around” $30K from Tulane, if it is merit money then its probably a combination of the Presidential (currently $27K) and a NMS ($2k annually). It would leave you with about 30K/yr in fees, room/board/books/transportation, etc. And it would mean she is in the Honors program as well, where she will meet other motivated students. Sure there is partying, but not everyone partakes, and its true at any school, especially schools in rather remote areas where there isn’t much else to do. I went to a small NE LAC. My older s went to a very small U and other s is finishing at Tulane. Tulane is going to offer a LAC “feel”, as it is a smallish University. Has she visited?</p>
<p>We have looked into Tulane extensively. Did your D get 30K/yr in merit money? If so theres no way that Tulane is going to be 40K a year. We live in NY too. Its not that costly to fly back and forth. Tulane with airfare is going to run you about 60K/yr, so your out of pocket expense is 30K/yr. Also if that 30k is in merit that means she is probably an honors student candidate, right? That being the case she can live in Butler Dorm and the partying scene is not so bad. The freshmen dorms- Sharp and Monroe are the typical party dorms. Butler is much quieter and now there is SoHo the new Sophomore Honors dorms. Its brand new this year. If your D likes recreation, Tulane has a fantastic work out facility, they just built a brand new basketball arena. Their track, baseball and tennis courts are stellar. The campus is gorgeous and right across the street from Audubon Park, which is beautiful with Live Oaks and spanish moss dripping off them. The school spirit is great at Tulane and the teachers and staff are all very helpful. We found them to be the most accomadating of all the schools my S applied to. Then on top of all that you are in the city of New Orleans. Although the school is located on St. Charles street and it takes about 20 minutes to actually drive into the central part of NOLA. Tulane is located in a more suburban area. Its a great school and for 30k a year you can’t go wrong, especially if D is looking for an American College experience. I would take Tulane hands down over Colgate, Bucknell or Colby. Also Tulane is not a southern school. Something like 80% of all the students come from 500 miles away or farther. Its a northern school in the south. Its very easy to acclimate to. They have great traditions at the school. They get 2 or 3 days off for Mardi Gras. They hold the largest crawfish festival annually. They have great music concerts on campus constantly. The weather is beautiful. You have a streetcar that stops right in front of the school that can take the kids to the french quarter for a $1.25. Its amazing! Also Tulane is one of the few schools that require every student to perform community service in order to graduate. Of course with katrinas devastation many students help build homes, or just work with local elementary school students. Its a very impressive school and the President is very hands on. During the honors weekend for the admit students he was walking around every day meeting and greeting the parents and kids. He was the opening speaker at the main presentation and was just always visible throughout the weekend. It was the only admit weekend where parents and kids could eat for free all day long, and all the staff would bend over backwards to help and/or accommodate everyones request. We were very impressed. So my vote is for Tulane:)</p>